Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,93
it wasn't only him, was it? You kept me out of trouble, too."
Without confirming or denying, I said, "And where'd you hear this?"
"At the grocery store, just yesterday. I ran into an old teacher when I was picking up baking supplies. But that's not important. The point is, I know exactly what you did."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?"
"Threats, bribery, intimidation – whatever it took to keep us out of trouble."
"You mean to keep Brody out of trouble."
She gave me a dubious look. "Right."
"Don't be flattered," I said. "It was strategic."
"Oh, I’m not flattered," she laughed. "Sure, I'm grateful, but you're missing the point."
"Which is…?"
"You're not as heartless as you look."
"My heart's got nothing to do with it," I said. "It would've looked funny if he got off and you didn't."
"Uh-huh."
"Call it a twofer."
She gave me a long, penetrating look. "And the thing with Cami yesterday?"
"What about it?"
"It was for Willow, not Cami? That's your story?"
"More or less."
"So that makes Cami what?" Arden lifted her hands and made exaggerated air quotes. "Another 'twofer'?"
No. Cami wasn't the second half of anything. She was the sweetest – and yeah, the sexiest – person I'd ever known. She was the one who made me smile. She was the one who gave as good as she got. She was the one who made me think of things I'd never thought before.
She filled the house with something I'd never had, even as a kid.
God, I missed her.
And now she was the reason I couldn’t eat or sleep, the reason I'd been kicking myself for doing what needed to be done – and the reason I'd resisted calling her, although God knows I wanted to.
I didn't even know if she'd be back.
In the living room, Arden persisted. "So that's what you want me to believe? That if it weren't for Cami being Willow's nanny, you wouldn't have cared enough to go after her?"
Shit. By now, I didn't even believe it. I reached up to rub the back of my neck. "Believe what you want," I said.
"Oh, believe me, I will. But here's another question. Is that what you want Cami to believe?"
No. I didn't.
And I did.
When I said nothing in reply, Arden kept on going. "Because she does believe it, you know. And I’m just saying, if it's not true, you're making the biggest mistake of your life." She pushed herself up from the chair as she added, "And you damn well know it."
And with that, she reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag with maybe a half-dozen Christmas cookies – some broken, some intact. She slapped the baggie into my hand and said, "See you tomorrow."
"What?"
"Christmas dinner. Remember? And just so you know, if you don't show up, we're coming out to get you."
"Who's we?"
"Me and Brody. Because whether you like it or not, I'm family, too. And I'm not going away."
"I never said I wanted you to." And I didn't. She made Brody happier than I'd ever seen him, which was several times happier than myself, especially now.
Arden said, "Yeah, well, you haven't exactly thrown out the welcome mat either. But that's alright. You'll come around eventually."
Hell, I was halfway there now.
Maybe more than halfway.
And maybe I should've told her, but my thoughts were too full of Cami. As I walked Arden to the door, I couldn’t help but wonder what I might've given to see Cami on my doorstep. Or in my living room. Or hell, even in the pantry – naked or not.
Just before Arden walked out the door, she turned and asked, "You want some sisterly advice?"
I shrugged but said nothing.
With a tight smile, she said, "You might want to remember, not all women are like your mother."
I knew that.
But I also knew something Arden didn't. The story of my parents – it was more complicated than she knew. More complicated than Brody knew either.
Because unlike my two younger brothers, I wasn't blameless.
Chapter 56
Mason
Arden's visit made me think – as if I hadn't been thinking enough already.
I'd been a mess before she showed up. But afterward, I was utterly spent. On the upside, it wasn't Arden, or even Brody, who brought Willow home later that afternoon.
It was Chase, who'd apparently decided it would be a good idea to spend the night in one of my guest rooms. Maybe it was for Willow's sake. Maybe it was for mine. Or hell, maybe it was for his own.